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Wednesday, September 24, 2014

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk to help writers stay in touch.

What I'm Reading:
I'm going to finish Micro this week. It's going to be a thing that happens.

What I'm Writing:
LP is still progressing. I've also had a very strong urge the past few days to pull out an old WIP and just give it a read to see exactly how extensive revisions are going to have to be. Haven't given in to the urge yet because LP has my attention at the moment and classes have kept me pretty busy this week.

What Works for Me:
Word count goals. Every day I write a goal on my to do list and then I use Scrivener's session target feature to keep track of how much I've written. I like to keep my goals small and manageable, between 250 and 1,000 words. When I'm really busy or having trouble finding the words, I shoot for 250. So far this semester I've been building up my goal, raising it every week. I'm up to 750-word days at the moment.

What Else I've Been Up To:
NHL pre-season started yesterday! Hockey is my favorite sport and the only one I avidly follow. I've had to listen to the games on opposing teams' radio stations because the Red Wings' usual station doesn't carry most pre-season games. Can't wait for the regular season to start so I can watch on TV. It's going to be a great season.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk to help writers stay in touch. Leaves are changing, I had my first pumpkin spice latte on Friday (though I actually get more excited about the salted caramel mocha), and my denim jacket is hanging on the back of my chair. It must be fall. I swear summer was here yesterday but it seems to have run off again.

What I'm Reading:
Still Micro. I really need to finish that.

What I'm Writing:
LP hit 40k yesterday!I might have to do some more plotting soon. I know where it's going but I only have a vague idea of how.I have a few new characters thrown into the mix, one that I like and one that I'm really starting to hate.

What Works for Me:
I completely missed this last week, but I really love the idea. Something that works for me is carrying around a little notebook for jotting down writing ideas and scenes on the go. I wrote 1k of a scene in class yesterday. I like keeping my writing ideas separate and together rather than jotting them down on the paper I use to take notes for class.

What Else I've Been Up To:
I had too much free time on my hands so I watched an entire season of Supernatural in four days. I'm still not entirely sure how that happened. Also, I defeated Demyx in Kingdom Hearts 2. It only took me about six hours of gameplay and some intense level grinding. I enjoyed my time off but now I've got a lot of work to be done.

Friday, September 12, 2014

The hardest thing about being productive and getting work done is blocking out distractions. Friends, family, TV, Internet, distractions are everywhere. With classes and work, I don't generally have much time to allow distractions to take away from my work time and then that cuts into my free time.

First things first, change your workspace if you can. This might mean using a different computer, sitting at desk rather than the couch, going into another room, or maybe leaving home to hit the library or coffee shop. I like a low drone of background noise so I used to get a lot of work done in Starbucks.

Then shut down the Internet. I like to keep a lot of tabs open to email, Facebook, forums, etc.and those tend to serve as major distractions for me when I'm using the computer for work. I think "I'll just check my email real quick" and twenty minutes later I find myself on Tumblr. Only open those tabs that are actually necessary for your work.

Make a list of tasks. I find this helps me keep organized with what I need to get done each day. The list usually includes homework, any chores that I have to get done around the house, my target word count for the day, blogs post I need to write, and anything else that I need to do.

Use a timer if that works for you. Some people find it helpful to set a timer for 30 or 60 minutes and then work the entire time. Then when the timer goes off, you take a break and start it again.

While you're working, give intermittent breaks--but preferably not the Internet. That's an easy black hole to get sucked into. Read a couple chapters of a book, watch an episode of a TV show, go for a walk, do whatever you like as long as you'll be able to come back from it refreshed and ready to work.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk to help writers stay in touch.

What I'm Reading:
Still Micro by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston. I'm a little over halfway through and while I'm not sure about the writing style at times, I am enjoying it.

What I'm Writing:
LP is coming along gradually. I've hit a major point in the story, although I only have a vague idea where things go from here. I'm also probably going to have to partially rewrite one of the scenes I just did because I didn't cry hard enough but I'll worry about that in revisions.

What Inspires Me:
Drawing a blank this week. Definitely not the weather. It's cold and pouring rain and I'm not looking forward to walking across campus in it.What Else I've Been Up To:
Playing a rather obsessive amount of Kingdom Hearts 2. I'm up to a major boss battle (Demyx, if anyone is familiar with the game) and despite having fought him over forty times (not an exaggeration, I've played nothing but that fight for about three continuous hours), I haven't yet managed to defeat him. So I've been running around trying to level up in the hope that I'll be able to overcome him with sheer force since skill isn't really working out. I'm not going to have much time for video games soon so I'm taking advantage of what I have.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk to help writers stay in touch.

What I'm Reading:
I'm so happy to be able to say that I actually am reading again. I finished Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce last night, the first book I've finished since June 19. It may have been my billionth reread but that book never gets old. I have the whole quartet on my shelf and I will be doing a complete reread at some point. I've already started Micro by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston. It's a tad-bit science heavy but also creepy and I'm enjoying it so far.

What I'm Writing:
Slowly getting back in the groove of working on LP again. I have the whole next part planned out in my head, so it's just a matter of getting the words on the page. It's hit 35k, the halfway point of my goal of 70k.

What Inspires Me:
Today it's the weather. After several days of clouds and rain, it's sunny and warm today. Makes me wish that I could go work outside, but I need my laptop for that. I guess I'll settle for opening all the windows.What Else I've Been Up To:
My roommates and I planned to take a day trip over the holiday weekend, but then it rained the whole time so we ended up staying home. I should have gotten work done but instead our weekend turned into a giant movie marathon, including the LOTR trilogy and the X-Men trilogy + First Class. I also finally introduced them to Pacific Rim, my third favorite movie of all time, so now I can finally make references without getting strange looks.